Cell-based composited windowing system

ABSTRACT

A system improves the performance of compositing individual images representing graphic layers into a composite image. The system may subdivide an image area of the composite image into cells such that for each one of the cells, either none of the graphic layers overlap within a respective one of the cells or all of the graphic layers that overlap within the respective one of the cells overlap throughout the respective one of the cells. A composition operation may be applicable to composite the respective one of the cells. The system may determine which processor generates the respective one of the cells based on which one of the processors is able to perform the type composition operation. The processor may generate the respective one of the cells by processing the composition operation.

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 USC§120 to, U.S. application Ser. No. 13/493,513, “CELL-BASED COMPOSITEDWINDOWING SYSTEM” filed Jun. 11, 2012, the entire contents of which areincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure relates to graphics and, in particular, to thecomposition of graphics buffers.

2. Related Art

Graphical user interfaces (GUI), Picture in Picture (PiP), and othertypes of graphical images may be composited from multiple independentlyrendered images. For example, a GUI may contain a background image andone or more rendered graphic layers on top of the background image. Thegraphic layers may comprise applications, task bars, or any other typeof graphic elements. Each one of the graphic layers may be renderedindependently of the other graphic layers by individual softwareapplications. The graphic layers may then be composited together into asingle graphic layer, or composited buffer, which may be presented on adisplay device, transmitted over a network, or otherwise processed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure may be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings and description. The components in the figures are notnecessarily to scale. Moreover, in the figures, like-referenced numeralsdesignate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 illustrates a cell-based composited windowing system;

FIG. 2 illustrates individual images that represent graphic layers;

FIG. 3 illustrates an image area of a composite image that is subdividedinto cells;

FIG. 4 illustrates dirty regions of individual images that intersectcells; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of the logic of a cell-basedcomposited windowing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A cell-based composited windowing system may include processors,graphics buffers, a cell identification module, and a processorassignment module. The processors may include, for example, a CPU(central processing unit), a GPU (graphics processing unit), a 2D (twodimensional) engine, and/or a DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller. Thegraphics buffers may represent individual images to be composited into acomposite image, where the individual images correspond to graphiclayers arranged in a stack. The cell identification module and theprocessor assignment module may be, for example, part of a compositionmanager that generates the composite image.

The cell identification module may subdivide an image area of thecomposite image into cells such that for each one of the cells, a set ofthe graphic layers intersect a respective one of the cells, and eachgraphic layer in the set of the graphic layers intersects the respectiveone of the cells throughout the respective one of the cells. In otherwords, for each one of the cells, either none of the graphic layersoverlap within the respective one of the cells or all of the graphiclayers that overlap within the respective one of the cells overlapthroughout the respective one of the cells.

The processor assignment module may determine, for each one of thecells, a composition operation to composite the set of the graphiclayers that intersect the respective one of the cells. For example, thecomposition operation may be a blit (bit blit or bit-block transfer)operation or a multi-layer blend operation. The processor assignmentmodule may also determine which processor will generate the respectiveone of the cells based on which processor is able to perform therespective composition operation. For example, the processor assignmentmodule may determine that a two dimensional (2D) engine is to processthe respective composition operation when the respective compositionoperation is either an opaque transaction type, such as a blitoperation, or a two-layer blend operation, and a Graphics ProcessingUnit (GPU) is to process the respective composition operation when therespective composition operation is a multi-layer blend operationinvolving more than two of the graphic layers. The manner in which theprocessor assignment module determines the processor that is to processthe composition operation is described in more detail below.

The processor that is determined by the processor assignment module maygenerate the respective one of the cells of the composite image. Inparticular, the cell may be generated by the processor executing therespective composition operation. If a combination of compositionoperations is needed for the composition of one of the cells, then oneor more of the processors may execute the composition operations for thecell.

A single pass approach may generate each cell. The composition operationmay make one or more reads of the individual images and one write to abuffer representing the composite image. Multiple read and/or writes tothe composite image buffer when compositing any region within any cellmay be unnecessary. For example, an opaque cell may be read from one ofthe graphic buffers once and written to the composite image buffer once.For any cell in which multiple graphic layers overlap, the compositionoperation may cause two or more reads from the individual images in thegraphic buffers and a single write to the composite image buffer. Inreading from and writing to the graphics buffers, the processors may usea substantial portion of the bandwidth of a bus connecting theprocessors with the memory. The system may decrease the amount ofbandwidth of the bus that is consumed by the processors when updatingthe graphics buffers.

The cell-based composited windowing system may leverage modern GPU and2D graphics engines. For example, standards like OPENGL® (Open GraphicsLibrary) support multi-texturing, which provides an operation forreading multiple, individually rendered images and blending theindividual images together in a single operation in which the compositeimage is written to the composite image buffer once (OPENGL® is aregistered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. of Mountain View,Calif.). The CPU or other processor may also support such standards.Accordingly, the GPU, the CPU, and/or the 2D graphics engine may providea standards-based API (application programming interface) to performcell compositing for blending cases. Each one of the cells may form aset of vertexes that may be filled in with rendered graphics, such astextures, during generation of the cells. Filling in areas described byvertexes maps well to many GPU architectures. 2D graphics engines maysupport operations like blits, blits with blending, and even blits withblending of multiple graphic layers in some examples. A DMA controllermay also be programmed to perform operations such as blits. Accordingly,the 2D engine, the DMA controller, the GPU, and the CPU may support cellcompositing.

Deciding which of the processors to use for compositing a cell maydepend on the system because each system may be different. For example,some systems have a fast CPU with a relatively slow GPU, whereas othersystems have a relatively fast GPU. Each cell may be renderedindependently of the other cells so that each cell may be rendered by aselected one of the processors. For example, the DMA controller may fillthe opaque cells with a blit operation and the GPU may composite thecells that require blending. Alternatively or in addition, compositionof the cells in which the graphic layers are to be blended may bedivided between the GPU and the 2D engine. In some implementations, oneof the processors, such as the 2D engine, may consume less power thananother one of the processors, such as the GPU. The processor thatconsumes less power than other processors may be selected when theprocessor is able to process the composition operation. Alternatively,or in addition, the processor that consumes less power may be selectedwhen the load on that processor is below a threshold level.Alternatively or in addition, directing the first one of the processorsto process a subset of the composition operations may reduce the chanceof cache swapping (in other words, “thrashing”) in the second processor.Any combination of processors and any rule for routing the compositionoperations to the processors may be included in the cell-basedcomposited windowing system.

FIG. 1 illustrates a cell-based composited windowing system 100. Thesystem 100 may include, for example, multiple processors 102, a memory104, and a memory interface 106. The processors 102 may be anycomponents that include hardware and/or a combination of hardware andsoftware configured to modify memory. The memory may include the memory104 illustrated in FIG. 1 or any other memory. The processors 102 mayinclude a central processing unit (CPU) 112, a two dimensional (2D)engine 114, a graphics processing unit (GPU) 116, and/or a direct memoryaccess (DMA) controller 118. The processors 102 may include additional,fewer, or different processors. Additional examples of the processors102 include a blitter chip, a general processor, a multi-core processor,an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signalprocessor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital circuit, ananalog circuit, a microcontroller, any other type of processor.

The memory interface 106 may be any component that manages thetransportation of data going to and from the memory 104, such as betweenthe processors 102 and the memory 104. The memory interface 106 may beany memory controller, such as a Memory Chip Controller (MCC), a DoubleData Rate2 (DDR2) memory controller used to drive DDR2 SDRAM (doubledata rate synchronous dynamic random-access memory), a PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) bus controller, or any other type of memorycontroller. The memory interface 106 may communicate with the memory 104over a bus 120, such as a 64 bit DDR2 bus operating at 400 Megahertz orany other type of bus. One or more of the processors 102, such as theDMA controller 118, may be included in the memory interface 106.

The memory 104 may be any device for storing and retrieving data or anycombination thereof. The memory 104 may include non-volatile and/orvolatile memory, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-onlymemory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or aflash memory. Alternatively or in addition, the memory 104 may includean optical, magnetic (hard-drive) or any other form of data storagedevice.

The memory 104 may store computer code, such as a composition manager122. The computer code may include instructions executable with one ormore of the processors 102. The computer code may be written in anycomputer language, such as C, C++, assembly language, shader code,channel program code, and/or any combination of computer languages.

The memory 104 may include graphics buffers 124. The graphics buffers124 may include individual images 126 that represent graphic layers 210,such as the three graphic layers 210 illustrated in FIG. 2, which areindividually designated A, B, and C, respectively. In particular, theimages 126 may represent the graphic layers 210 that are to becomposited into a composite image 128 stored in one or more of in thegraphics buffers 124.

The composition manager 122 may be any component that composites ordirects the composition of the individual images 126 into the compositeimage 128. The images 126 may include windows generated by a windowsbased operating system, such an operating system for a mobile electronicdevice, a desktop computer, or a server. Examples of the windows basedoperating system may include MICROSOFT WINDOWS®, which is a registeredtrademark of Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.; LINUX®, which is aregistered trademark of Linus Torvalds of Finland; and ANDROID™, whichis a trademark of Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. Alternatively orin addition, any of the images 126 may include a task bar, a backgroundpicture, a frame in a sequence of frames in a video, or any other typeof digital image.

Each one of the images 126 may represent a corresponding one of thegraphic layers 210. The images 126, represented by the graphic layers210, may have any size and may be arranged in any order and/or position.The graphic layers 210 may be arranged or stacked along a depthdimension so that when the composition manager 122 combines the graphiclayers 210, the composition manager 122 forms the composite image 128 ofthe graphic layers 210 in multiple dimensions such as two dimensions. Ifthe graphic layers 210 overlap, then the composition manager 122 maymerge the overlapping portion or portions. The composite image 128 mayhave an image area 220 that is different from the sizes of the graphiclayers 210 being composited. The graphic layer 210 or the graphic layers210 may also be referred to as the layer 210 or the layers 210.

In FIG. 2, for example, layer A is the lowest layer 210, layer B is thenext lowest layer 210, and layer C is the highest layer. Layer A has thesame size as the image area 220 of the composite image 128. Layers B andC are smaller than the image area 220 of the composite image 128. All oflayers B and C overlap layer A. A portion 230 of layer C overlaps layerB.

During operation of the cell-based composited system 100, thecomposition manager 122 may combine or merge the images 126 representingthe layers 210 into the composite image 128. In particular, thecomposition manager 122 may merge the layers 210 by subdividing theimage area 220 of the composite image 128 into cells 310, assigning eachone of the cells 310 to a corresponding one of the processors 102, andprocessing each cell 310 with the corresponding assigned processor 102.

FIG. 3 illustrates the image area 220 of the composite image 128 of FIG.2 subdivided into cells 310. The composition manager 122 may subdividethe image area 220 of the composite image 128 into the cells 310 suchthat, in each one of the cells 310, any one portion of the cell 310 isto be composited from the same set of the layers 210 as any otherportion of the cell 310. In other words, either none of the layers 210overlap within a respective one of the cells 310 or the layers 210 thatoverlap within the respective one of the cells 310 all overlapthroughout the respective one of the cells 310.

FIG. 3 illustrates the image area 220 of the composite image 128 of FIG.2 subdivided into the cells 310. The composition manager 122 may sizeand position each one of the cells 310 so that any portion within thecell 310 is to be composited from an identical set of the layers 210 asany other portion within the cell 310. For example, the cells 310illustrated in FIG. 3 are individually designated A, A+B, A+C, andA+B+C, respectively. The cells 310 designated A are to be compositedonly from layer A. The cells 310 designated A+B are to be compositedonly from layer A and layer B because layer A and layer B overlapthroughout the cells 310 designated A+B. The cells 310 designated A+Care to be composited from only layer A and layer C because layer A andlayer C overlap throughout the cells 310 designated A+C. The cell 310designated A+B+C is to be composited from layer A, layer B, and layer Cbecause layer A, layer B, and layer C overlap throughout the cell 310.

The composition manager 122 may arrange the cells 310 differently thanillustrated in FIG. 3. For example, two or more of the cells 310 may becombined to form one cell. In one such example, the cells 310 that aredesigned A in FIG. 3 may be combined to form one cell. The cells 310 mayhave a rectangular shape as illustrated in FIG. 3, or any other shape.

The composition manager 122 may composite each of the cells 310 from theset of the layers 210 in a manner that may depend on whether therespective one of the cells 310 intersects just one of the layers 210and/or based on how the layers 210 that overlap within the respectiveone of the cells 310 are to be combined. For example, if the cell 310intersects just one of the layers 210, then the cell 310 in thecomposite image 128 may be generated by a blit operation, which maycomprise a memory copy operation. The blit operation may copy memoryfrom the graphics buffer 124 that includes the intersected layer 210 tothe graphics buffer 124 that includes the composite image 128.Alternatively, if the cell 310 intersects multiple layers 210 and a topone of the intersected layers 210 obscures the remaining intersectedlayers 210, then the cell 310 in the composite image 128 may begenerated by a blit operation. For example, the blit operation may copymemory from the graphics buffer 124 that includes the top layer 210 tothe graphics buffer 124 that includes the composite image 128.Alternatively or in addition, if the cell 310 intersects two layers 210and the top layer 210 is transparent, then then the cell 310 in thecomposite image 128 may be generated by a blit operation that copiesmemory from the graphics buffer 124 that includes the bottom layer 210to the graphics buffer 124 that includes the composite image 128.Alternatively, if the cell 310 intersects multiple layers 210 and thetop layer 210 is semitransparent, then the multiple layers 210 may beblended with a blending operation, such an alpha blending operation.

Thus, the composition manager 122 may composite each one of the cells310 based on what type of a composition operation 130 is applicable tothe set of layers 210 that intersect the cell 310. The type of thecomposition operation 130 may be any type of operation that may generatethe cell 310 of the composite image 128. The composition operation 130may blend or copy pixel information or any other representation of imagedata. Examples of the type of the composition operations 130 include anopaque transaction type, a blended transaction type, or any other typeof operation.

The opaque transaction type may be a type of an operation that generatesthe cell 310 from one of the layers 210. Examples of the compositionoperations 130 that are of the opaque transaction type include a singletexture fill and a source/destination blit operation. Thesource/destination blit operation may copy memory from one buffer toanother.

The blended transaction type may be a type of operation that generatesthe cell 310 from a combination of two or more of the layers 210.Examples of the composition operations 130 that are of the blendedtransaction type include a multi-layer blend operation, a two-layerblend operation, a multi-texture standard command, a blit with blend ormulti-source blend, or any other type of composition operation 130. Thetwo-layer blend operation may blend two of the layers 210. Themulti-layer blend operation may blend any number of the layers 210.

The composition operations 130 may include one or more commands that maybe completed by one or more of the processors 102. The compositionoperations 130 may be in a graphics language, such as OPENGL®, aregistered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.Alternatively or in addition, the composition operations 130 may be inany other suitable language, such as in input/output commands for DMAcontrollers. Alternatively or in addition, the composition operations130 may be executed by invoking a procedural call in an API (applicationprogramming interface).

Each one of the processors 102 may be able to perform one or more typesof the composition operations 130. For example, the DMA controller 118may be able to perform the composition operations 130 that are theopaque transaction type, but not the blended transaction type. The 2Dengine 114 may be able to perform the blit operations and the two-layerblend operations, but not the multi-layer blend operations where morethan two of the layers 210 are to be blended. The GPU 116 may be able toperform both the opaque transaction type and the blended transactiontype. Alternatively, the DMA controller 118, the 2D engine 114, and theGPU 116 may be able to perform different types of composition operations130.

The composition manager 122 may determine which of the processors 102 isto process the composition operation 130 for each one of the cells 310.The composition manager 122 may route the composition operation 130 foreach one of the cells 310 to a corresponding one of the processors 102that has the ability to process the composition operation 130.

The composition manager 122 may route the composition operation 130 tothe corresponding one of the processors 102 in many ways. For example,the composition manager 122 may pass an instruction or code to theprocessor 102. For example, the composition manager 122 may pass thecomposition operation 130 in the form of shader code to the GPU 112.Alternatively or in addition, the composition manager 122 may invoke anAPI to direct the processor 102 to perform the composition operation130. For example, the 2D engine 114 may accept a blit command. However,rather than passing the 2D engine the blit command, the compositionmanager 122 may determine what memory should be copied where in order tocomplete the blit command, and pass a corresponding copy commanddirectly to the DMA controller 118 to be processed.

The composition manager 122 may apply one or more rules when routing thecomposition operations 130 to the processors 102. A rule may be todirect a first one of the processors 102 to process one or more types ofthe composition operations 130, and to direct a second one of theprocessors 102 to process any other type of the composition operations130. For example, a rule may be to direct the 2D engine 114 to theprocess the blit operations and/or the two-layer blend operations, andto direct the GPU 116 to process multi-layer blend operations that blendmore than two of the layers 210.

A rule may route the composition operations 130 to a main one of theprocessors 102, but if the main processor 102 is busy, then route thecomposition operations 130 to a second one of the processors 102. Forexample, a rule may direct the GPU 116 to process the compositionoperations 130 when a load on the GPU 116 is below a threshold level,and direct the CPU 112 and/or the 2D engine 114 to process thecomposition operations 130 when the load on the GPU 116 is above thethreshold level. Alternatively or in addition, a rule may route thecomposition operations 130 to a least loaded one of the processors 102that is capable of processing the composition operation 130. The loadlevel of one or more of the processors 102 may be available to thecomposition manager 122 for applying one or more of the rules forrouting the composition operations 130.

As discussed, the composition manager 122 may direct a corresponding oneof the processors 102 to composite each one of the cells 310 with thecomposition operations 130. Each one of the cells 310 may be compositedindependently of the other cells 310. The cells 310 may be composited inparallel. For example, a first one of the processors 102 may composite afirst one of the cells 310 while a second one of the processors 102composites a second one of the cells 310. The first one of theprocessors 102 may composite the first one of the cells 310 byprocessing the composition operation 130 for the first one of the cells310. At the same time, the second one of the processors 102 maycomposite the second one of the cells 310 by processing the compositionoperation 130 for the second one of the cells 310. If the processors 102include the CPU 112, the 2D engine 114, and the GPU 116, for example,then the processors 102 may composite three of the cells 310 inparallel: each one of the CPU 112, the 2D engine 114, and the GPU 116may composite a corresponding one of the three cells 310.

Referring to FIG. 1, the composition manager 122 may include a cellcomposition controller 132 that handles tasks related to the cells 310.The cell composition controller 132 may include a cell identificationmodule 134 and a processor assignment module 136.

The cell identification module 134 may identify the cells 310 bysubdividing the image area 220 of the composite image 128 into the cells310. The cell identification module 134 may use any number of mechanismsfor subdividing the image area 220. For example, the cell identificationmodule 134 may use a bottom up or a top down mechanism where the cells310 are identified as each of the layers 210 is applied. For example, inthe bottom up mechanism, the cell identification module 134 may startwith the bottom layer 210 and iteratively apply each successive one ofthe layers 210 until the top layer 210 is reached, identifying the cells310 on each iteration. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the cellidentification module 134 may start with layer A, which is a rectanglethat covers the image area 220 of the composite image 128. The cellidentification module 134 may apply layer B, which is a rectangleenclosed by layer A. The cell identification module 134 mayprovisionally identify the cells 310 as comprising five cells: therectangle that is layer B; and four rectangular cells that surroundlayer B, which together, cover the portion of layer A not covered bylayer B. The cell identification module 134 may then apply layer C,which is a rectangle that overlaps layer B and which is enclosed bylayer A. The cell identification module 134 may identify the cells 310as the cells illustrated in FIG. 3 by overlaying the rectangle that islayer C onto the five cells identified when layer B was applied.

The cell identification module 134 may use layer information 138 storedin the memory 104 to identify the layers 210. The layer information 138may include information about each one of the layers 210, such as thesize and position of each of the layers 210, and an alpha value and/oropaqueness value for each one of the layers 210. The cell identificationmodule 134 may generate cell information 140 that includes informationabout each one of the cells 310. The cell information 140 may includethe size and position of the cell 310. The cell information 140 mayinclude more, less, or different information. For example, the cellinformation 140 may include the composition operation 130 or thecomposition operations 130 to composite the cell 310, the type ofcomposition operation 130 to composite the cell 310, and/or any otherinformation applicable to the cell 310.

The processor assignment module 136 may determine which of theprocessors 102 is to composite each respective one of the cells 310 asdescribed herein. The processor assignment module 136 may determine theassigned processor 102 for each one of the cells 310 from the layerinformation 138 and/or the cell information 140. For example, theprocessor assignment module 136 may determine the composition operation130 for each one of the cells 310 by determining which of the layers 210intersect the cell 310 from the cell information 140, and then determinehow the layers 210 are to be combined from the properties of the layers210 as indicated in the layer information 138. The processor assignmentmodule 136 may also composite each respective one of the cells 310 withthe determined one of the processors 102 by providing the compositionoperation 130 for the respective one of the cells 310 to the determinedone of the processors 102.

In some embodiments, the system 100 may keep track of dirty regions 410of the individual images 126 represented in the layers 210. FIG. 4illustrates the dirty regions 410 of the individual images 126. Thedirty regions 410 in each of the images 126 may identify what portion ofeach individual image 126 changed from a first frame to a second frame.When updating the individual images 126 in the graphics buffers 124 tothe second frame, the system 100 may limit the updates to the portionsof the individual images 126 included within the dirty regions 410.

The processor assignment module 136 may determine which of the cells 310of the composite image 128 intersect the dirty regions 410 of theindividual images 126. The cells 310 that intersect the dirty regions410 of the individual images 126 being composited may be referred to asdirty cells 420. For example, in FIG. 4, the dirty regions 410 intersectthe cells 310 designated A+C and the cell 310 in the upper left cornerof the image area 220 designated A. The processor assignment module 136may direct the processors 102 to composite the dirty cells 420, but skipcompositing the cells 310 that are not the dirty cells 420.

All of the disclosure, regardless of the particular implementationdescribed, is exemplary in nature, rather than limiting. The cell-basedcomposited windowing system 100 may include additional, fewer, ordifferent components than illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the system100 may include a display controller 108 and a display device 110. Thedisplay controller 108 may read the composite image 128 from the memory104 through the memory interface 106 and cause the composite image 128to be displayed in the display device 110.

Furthermore, each one of the components of the cell-based compositedwindowing system 100 may include more, fewer, or different elements thanis illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the memory 104 may include more,fewer, or different modules, graphics buffers, and applications.Moreover, the various modules are but one example of such functionalityand any other configurations of modules encompassing similarfunctionality are possible. The cell composition controller 132, forexample, may be included in a different component than the compositionmanager 122. In another example, one or more of the features of the cellidentification module 134 may be implemented in a different module.Flags, data, databases, tables, entities, and other data structures maybe separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a singlememory or database, may be distributed, or may be logically andphysically organized in many different ways. The components may operateindependently or be part of a same program. The components may beresident on separate hardware, such as separate removable circuitboards, or share common hardware, such as a same memory and processorfor implementing instructions from the memory. Programs may be parts ofa single program, separate programs, or distributed across severalmemories and processors.

In some examples, one or more of the components of the system 100 may beincluded in a System on a Chip (SOC) 142. For example, the SOC 142 mayinclude the processors 102, the memory interface 106 and the displaycontroller 108. In another example, the SOC 142 may include additionalcomponents, such as memory. Some implementations of the SOC 142 mayinclude a 2D engine that has different features than otherimplementations of the SOC 142. In other implementations of the SOC 142,the SOC 142 may not include the 2D engine 114.

The system 100 may include a configuration file that identifies multipletypes of systems and/or types of systems on a chip. The configurationfile may also identify the types of processors in each of the identifiedsystems. During operation of the system 100, the system may look up thesystem 100 and/or the SOC 142 in the configuration file and identify theprocessors 102 and/or the types of the processors 102 available in thesystem 100 from the configuration file. The processor assignment module136 may determine the processor 102 to process the composition operation130 based on a lookup of the identity of the SOC 142 in a configurationfile, where the SOC 142 comprises at least one of the processors 102.For example, the configuration file may indicate what types of thecomposition operations 130 the processors in the SOC 142 are able toprocess.

The system 100 may be implemented in many different ways. For example,although some features are shown stored in computer-readable memories aslogic implemented as computer-executable instructions or as datastructures in memory, portions of the system 100 and its logic and datastructures may be stored on, distributed across, or read from any othermachine-readable storage media. Examples of the media may includememories, a cache, a buffer, RAM, a removable media, a hard drive, harddisks, floppy disks, CD-ROMs, or any other type of machine-readable orcomputer-readable storage medium. The media may include anynon-transitory computer-readable storage media, such as CD-ROMs,volatile or non-volatile memory such as RAM and ROM, any other suitablestorage device or any combination thereof. Alternatively or in addition,features and/or modules described as logic implemented ascomputer-executable instructions or as data structures in memory may beimplemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software,such as in a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

As one example, each one of the processors 102 may be implemented as amicroprocessor, a microcontroller, a DSP (digital signal processor), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), a digital circuit, an analog circuit, discrete logic,any other type of circuit or logic, or any combination thereof. Asanother example, the memory 104 may include non-volatile and/or volatilememory, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM),an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, anyother type of memory now known or later discovered, or any combinationthereof. The memory 104 may include an optical, magnetic (hard-drive) orany other form of data storage device.

The functions, acts or tasks illustrated in the figures or described maybe executed in response to one or more sets of logic or instructionsstored in or on computer readable media. The functions, acts or tasksare independent of the particular type of instructions set, storagemedia, processor or processing strategy and may be performed bysoftware, hardware, integrated circuits, firmware, micro code and thelike, operating alone or in combination. Likewise, processing strategiesmay include multiprocessing, multitasking, parallel processing,distributed processing, and/or any other type of processing. In oneembodiment, the instructions are stored on a removable media device forreading by local or remote systems. In other embodiments, the logic orinstructions are stored in a remote location for transfer through acomputer network or over telephone lines. In yet other embodiments, thelogic or instructions are stored within a given computer, centralprocessing unit (“CPU”), graphics processing unit (“GPU”), or system.

The processing capability of the system 100 may be distributed amongmultiple entities, such as among multiple processors and memories,optionally including multiple distributed processing systems. Parametersand other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may beincorporated into a single memory or database, may be logically andphysically organized in many different ways, and may be implemented withdifferent types of data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, orimplicit storage mechanisms. Logic, such as programs or circuitry, maybe combined or split among multiple programs, distributed across severalmemories and processors.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of the logic of the cell-basedcomposited windowing system 100. The graphics buffers 124 that representthe individual images 126 may be provided, where the individual images126 represent the graphic layers 210 to be composited into the compositeimage 128. For example, the memory 104 may include the graphics buffers124.

The logic may start by subdividing (510) the image area 220 of thecomposite image 128 into the cells 310 such that for each one of thecells 310, either none of the graphic layers 210 overlap within arespective one of the cells 310 or all of the graphic layers 210 thatoverlap within the respective one of the cells 310 overlap throughoutthe respective one of the cells 310. Any number of algorithms may beused to subdivide the image area 220 into the cells 310.

The composition operation 130 may be determined (520) for each of thecells 310. The composition operation 130 may be applicable to compositea set of the graphic layers 210 that intersect the respective one of thecells 310.

For each of the cells 310, a determination may be made (530) as to whichof the processors 102 is to generate the respective one of the cells 310based on which of the processors 102 is able to perform the type of thecomposition operation 130. The respective one of the cells 310 of thecomposite image 128 may be generated (540) from the set of the graphiclayers 210 that intersect the cell 310. In particular, each cell 310 maybe generated by performing the respective composition operation 130 withthe processor 102 that was determined to be the processor 102 togenerate the cell 310. The logic may end, for example, by displaying thecomposite image 128 or otherwise reading the composite image 128 fromthe graphics buffers 124.

The logic may include additional, different, or fewer operations. Forexample, the logic may limit the cells 310 that are composited to thecells 310 that intersect the dirty regions 410 of the individual images126. The operations may be executed in a different order thanillustrated in FIG. 5.

To clarify the use of and to hereby provide notice to the public, thephrases “at least one of <A>, <B>, . . . and <N>” or “at least one of<A>, <B>, . . . <N>, or combinations thereof” or “<A>, <B>, . . . and/or<N>” are defined by the Applicant in the broadest sense, superseding anyother implied definitions herebefore or hereinafter unless expresslyasserted by the Applicant to the contrary, to mean one or more elementsselected from the group comprising A, B, . . . and N, that is to say,any combination of one or more of the elements A, B, . . . or Nincluding any one element alone or in combination with one or more ofthe other elements which may also include, in combination, additionalelements not listed.

While various embodiments have been described, it will be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments andimplementations are possible within the scope of the disclosure.Accordingly, the disclosure is not to be restricted except in light ofthe attached claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: providing a plurality ofgraphics buffers representing a plurality of rendered applicationwindows, wherein the rendered application windows represent a pluralityof graphic layers to be composited into a composite image; subdividingan image area of the composite image into a plurality of cells such thatfor each one of the cells, all of any of the graphic layers that overlapwithin a respective one of the cells overlap throughout the respectiveone of the cells; and compositing the graphics layers by generating thecells with a plurality of processors, each respective one of the cellsof the composite image generated from a set of the graphic layers thatintersect the respective one of the cells by performing a respectivecomposition operation with a corresponding one of the processorsdetermined to be able to perform the respective composition operation.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the processors comprise at least twoof a Direct Memory Access (DMA) controller, a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU), a two dimensional (2D) engine, or a Central Processing Unit(CPU).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the cells withthe processors comprises performing the respective composition operationwith a two dimensional (2D) engine if the composition operation is anopaque transaction type.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thegenerating the cells with the processors comprises performing therespective composition operation with a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)when the respective composition operation is a blended transaction type.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the cells with theprocessors comprises performing the respective composition operationwith a two dimensional (2D) engine if the respective compositionoperation is either an opaque transaction type or a two-layer blendoperation.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the cellswith the processors comprises performing the respective compositionoperation with and a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is to process therespective composition operation when the respective compositionoperation is a multi-layer blend operation involving more than two ofthe graphic layers.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the correspondingone of the processors is determined to be able to perform the respectivecomposition operation based on whether a load on at least one of theprocessors exceeds a threshold value.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereingenerating the cells with the plurality of processors comprisesgenerating at least two of the cells of the composite image in parallel.9. An apparatus comprising: a plurality of processors, a first one ofthe processors is able to perform a different type of compositionoperation than a second one of the processors; and a memory comprising:a plurality of graphics buffers representing a plurality of individualimages, respectively, wherein the individual images represent aplurality of graphic layers, respectively, to be composited into acomposite image; a cell identification module executable to subdivide animage area of the composite image into a plurality of cells, wherein foreach one of the cells, a set of the graphic layers intersect arespective one of the cells, and each one of the graphic layers in theset of the graphic layers intersects the respective one of the cellsthroughout the respective one of the cells; and a processor assignmentmodule executable to direct at least two of the processors to generatethe cells, wherein for each of the cells, a respective one of the cellsof the composite image is generated by a respective one of theprocessors that is determined to have an ability to perform a respectivecomposition operation applicable to composite the respective one of thecells of the composite image.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein theprocessor assignment module is further executable to determine which ofthe cells of the composite image intersect any of a plurality of dirtyregions of the individual images, wherein the dirty regions of theindividual images identify which portions of the individual images havechanged.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor assignmentmodule is further executable to direct the processors to generate thecells of the composite image that intersect any of the dirty regions ofthe individual images, but not to direct the processors to generate thecells of the composite image that fail to intersect any of the dirtyregions of the individual images.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9, whereinthe respective one of the processors that is determined to have anability to perform a respective composition operation is also determinedto be one of the processors that consumes less power than other of theprocessors.
 13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processorassignment module is further executable to select the respective one ofthe processors from among the processors based on a lookup of anidentification of a system on a chip in a configuration file, and thesystem on the chip comprises at least one of the processors.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor assignment module is furtherexecutable to select the respective one of the processors to be aGraphics Processing Unit (GPU) if a load on the GPU is below a thresholdlevel, and a Central Processing Unit and/or a two dimensional (2D)engine if the load on the GPU is above the threshold level.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with computerexecutable instructions, the computer executable instructions executablewith a processor, the computer-readable storage medium comprising:instructions executable to subdivide an image area of a composite imageinto a plurality of cells, wherein for each one of the cells, all of anyof a plural of graphic layers that overlap within a respective one ofthe cells overlap throughout the respective one of the cells, andwherein the composite image is to be composited from the graphicslayers, and wherein each of the graphics layer represents acorresponding rendered application window; and instructions executableto composite the graphics layers by generating the cells with aplurality of processors, each respective one of the cells of thecomposite image generated from a set of the graphic layers thatintersect the respective one of the cells by performing a respectivecomposition operation with a corresponding one of the processorsdetermined to be able to perform the respective composition operation.